Louder than Words
by Winter-sama
Summary: PG13 coz some things might make immature readers think hentai things! Neways...Tomoyo gets sick and Eriol takes care of her...really really mushy...please read it...it's sweet...r r


disclaimer: Eriol's mine!! All mine!! He takes care of me when I'm sick!!  
::laughs insanely::   
::gets bopped on the head with a stuffed animal::  
Alright, alright, he belongs to Clamp...::sticks out tongue::  
  
  
  
**Louder than Words**  
  
  
  
_ I'm so cold. Why is it so cold in here? Why can't I get warm?_  
Tomoyo wrapped her arms tightly around and hunched down in her seat, trying to get warm, but she was still shivering fiercely.  
"Daijobu desu ka?" a voice whispered from behind her.   
"Ha–hai," she struggled to say through her chattering teeth, "I ju–just c–can't seem to get warm," she turned to Eriol, who was watching her with concern.  
His expression turned to shock when she faced him. Her lips were blue from the cold and she was shaking uncontrollably as her body tried to warm her up. "You should go to the infirmary," he whispered.  
Tomoyo's eyes widened in fear, "N-no, it's okei. Please d-don't send me there," she begged him.  
Eriol didn't really understand why Tomoyo would be afraid to go to the infirmary, but the fear in her eyes was very real, so he didn't push the issue. "Okei," he whispered to her softly, relief flooding her features as she turned back in her seat to try and listen to sensei. Suddenly, she felt a heavy weight around her shoulders, her mouth opening in shock when she realized that it was his school blazer he had draped around her shoulders.  
"Arigato..." she whispered without turning to look back.  
Despite the heavy blazer that now sat on her shoulders, Tomoyo still didn't feel any warmer. She couldn't feel her hands or feet anymore, and her head was starting to feel like it was filled with ice. She couldn't think straight. Something wasn't right. _Why is the world spinning like that?_ she mused to herself. It was almost amusing, suddenly, and she let out a small giggle.  
"Daidouji-san? Are you okei?" sensei asked, her giggle having attracted his attention.  
Tomoyo tried to answer that she was fine, but she couldn't seem to figure out which sensei was the one she was supposed to answer. This too, suddenly seemed funny and she giggled again, this time, swaying dangerously in her seat.  
"Hiiragizawa-kun," the sensei turned to the boy holding up the giggling girl in front of him, "could you please bring Daidouji-san down to the infirmary?"  
The giggles abruptly stopped and Tomoyo's face was overcome with fear. "No," she whimpered, "please don't make me go there...pp-please..." tears were beginning to slide down her cheeks.  
"I'll walk her home," Eriol volunteered to the teacher, who nodded, seeing that the infirmary might not be the best option right now. Eriol helped Tomoyo to stand from her desk, but had to support her a great deal to prevent her from falling down.  
"Home.." Tomoyo sighed under her breath, "nobody. Alone. All alone, Tomoyo-chan, all alone," she giggled again.  
  
Suffice it to say, the walk home had been an interesting one, one which ended with Tomoyo hoisted up on Eriol's back, sound asleep but still shivering, when he walked through the gates on to the Daidouji premises. He was loath to wake her up, so he simply used his magick to unlock the door. Looking around, he suddenly understood the half delirious rantings about Tomoyo's loneliness. There wasn't a soul in the house. _Her mother's probably gone on another business trip_ , he thought, and when Daidouji-sama did _that_, Tomoyo usually dismissed the bodyguards and servants, because she thought there was no need for them around_ her_. Eriol sighed, he certainly couldn't leave the poor girl alone in her condition. She was seriously ill, but wouldn't see a doctor. Slowly he made his was up to her bedroom, where he carefully placed her on her bed. The sudden jolt and the lack of warmth from his body brought Tomoyo somewhat awake. Except, now, instead of the blue lips and shivering body he left the school with, he was now faced with glazed, feverish eyes and very, very warm skin.  
"Eriol?" she asked, somewhat slurred, somewhat weezed, as though she couldn't quite draw a full breath.  
"Shhh," he whispered, stroking her sweaty hair off of her forehead, "we need to get you changed and you need to rest."  
Tomoyo nodded mutely, like a small child, doing as she was told. Eriol went to her chest of drawers and pulled out a long nightgown, which he brought back to the bed. Tomoyo still sat there, teetering slightly. He helped her to unbutton her school blouse and slipped the nightgown over her head. Once it was on, he unclasped her bra from the back, and then helped her to put her arms through the holes. Though it didn't seem like much, all the effort seemed to be exhausting Tomoyo, who was again shaking like a leaf.  
"Tomoyo," Eriol began softly, feeling bad for what he had to do next, knowing that she could hardly sit, let alone stand, but sighed, "you're going to have to stand up so that we can take your skirt off."  
Again, Tomoyo nodded mutely, but when she tried to stand, her legs gave out on her, Eriol barely caught her before she hit the floor. With Tomoyo leaning heavily on him, Eriol managed to unzip the skirt and slide it down from under the nightgown. That done, he pulled the blankets back with his free hand and gently laid her down, pulling the blankets back up to her chin.  
"Thank you," she whispered quietly, before sleep overcame her.  
"You're my best friend," he answered the sleeping form in front of him, "and I love you, but you already know that."  
  
With Tomoyo asleep, Eriol began to pick up the bits and pieces of her school uniform and threw them in the laundry basket. That done, he went to the kitchen to fill a bowl with cool water, and picked up a small cloth from the linen closet. He needed to get her fever under control. By the time he returned to her bedroom, Tomoyo was awake again, and muttering something under her breath.  
"So, so warm...too warm, I'm too hot," she muttered again and again, unbuttoning the four little buttons at the neck of her nightgown.  
Eriol sat down next to her on the bed and forced her to lie back down, though she struggled a little at first, muttering about a sea of fire. Once she was laying, he pressed the cold cloth to her forehead, then ran it over the rest of her face, neck, and the exposed part of her chest She seemed to calm down a little, and her eyes fluttered closed again. He continued to try and keep her cool for the next hour or so, stopping when her breathing began to even out, and she seemed at last to be in a real sleep.  
Exhausted himself, he stretched out at the foot of her bed and fell asleep.  
  
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It was dark outside when Eriol woke up again. He wondered at what had woken him up, but soon realized that the bed was shaking. He sat up quickly when he realized that it was Tomoyo's shivering that was shaking the bed, that, and she seemed to be crying quietly.  
"Tomoyo-chan," he started, his voice brimming with concern, "what is it Tomoyo? Why are you crying?"  
"Because," she answered quietly, shaking, "because I'm hot, and I'm cold and I hurt and it won't stop, and, and, and..." she trailed off, shaking her head back and forth against the pillow, as though trying to shake something off.  
"Where does it hurt, Tomoyo?" he asked her, taking her face between his hands, afraid that she might hurt herself more.  
"Everywhere...nowhere...I don't know, I don't know, make it stop, please Eriol, make it stop," she begged, more sobs racking her already distressed body.  
Eriol didn't know what to do. His magick couldn't help him with this. He did the only thing he could think of, he gathered the frail shaking body into his arms, rocking back in forth, trying to sooth and comfort the girl. She responded by wrapping her arms tightly around his waist and let herself be rocked back to sleep like a small child. Soon, the shaking lessened, and the sobs quieted, and Eriol was quite sure that she had fallen asleep again. He tried to lie her back down, but discovered that her grip around his waist was not one to be reckoned with. Conceding defeat, he laid down with her, and pulled the blankets over both their forms.  
  
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It would be three days before Tomoyo was sufficiently recovered to return to school. During those three days, Eriol never left her side, except to make them food, and to call Nakuru so that she might bring him some extra clothes. The two days following the first had been only slightly less bad than the first, but Tomoyo still refused to let go of Eriol for any length of time. It was as though he were her lifeline, and quite possibly, he had been. Because Tomoyo refused to see a doctor, they never knew exactly what she had had, but considering that she was now recovering, Eriol supposed it was a moot point and didn't push the issue, though he had to admit, he had never been so scared in his life.  
Tomoyo's first day back at school was less than dazzling. She was still terribly weak from the illness, and Eriol needed to help her with seemingly small tasks, like brushing her hair, or doing the buckles on her shoes. He didn't mind, in fact he almost enjoyed it, if not for the circumstances, he would have.   
During lunch, on her first day back, Eriol helped her to walk to the cherryblossom tree in the courtyard, where, leaning his back against the trunk, he gathered her into his arms, and they sat there talking to each other quietly.  
  
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"Thank you, Eriol," she whispered up quietly to the boy in whose arms she sat, "you never left me. I was scared, but no matter where I was, in a dream, awake, in the throes of delirium, it didn't matter, you were always there. I used to think that I didn't need anybody, that I could be alone, take care of myself, but now..."  
"I know," he answered back, gently, "your welcome."  
Tomoyo tightened her arms around his waist. She wondered suddenly, at all the couples out there who always felt the strange compulsion to say 'I love you' to prove their feelings. She felt closer now to Eriol than most couples would ever feel.  
"I suppose real, true things just don't need to be said," she said softly, knowing he would understand.  
"No. I suppose they don't," he answered back just as quietly, "sometimes words break the magick."  
  
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Finie!  
  
Please review, it makes it worth writing if you actually know that people are reading it.  
  
Now don't we all wish we had someone like that to take care of us when we're sick? I know I do...::sighs::  
Ja ne!  
Wintersama  
cutegatomon@lycos.com  



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